While God loves a cheerful giver, church leaders like a consistent one.

That's the premise behind offering parishioners the option to give on Sundays with automatic deductions from bank accounts.

Church leaders say that with parishioners' busy lifestyles--taking the kids to visit colleges, visiting distant relatives and living out of state during the winter, for example--churchgoers miss more Sunday services than they did in the past. And when they get back, they don't often remember to make up for missed givings.

Last month, the First Reformed Church of Scotia began offering its congregation the ability to give their gifts through an automatic withdrawal system developed by First National Bank of Scotia and one of the bank's vendors, Fidelity National Information Services. The system makes tithing as easy as paying a mortgage. Church members don't have to belong to First National Bank. They fill out a form outlining how much want to give and how often, and attach a canceled check. First National does the rest.

"If this is the way people live, I don't want to make giving hard," said the Rev. Craig Hoffman of First Reformed. "I think giving is an important Christian discipline and anything we can do to encourage it is helpful."

Hoffman said when the 300-member church started the program, the assumption was that 20-somethings would jump at the chance because they are more comfortable with automatic deductions, ATMs and online banking than older parishoners.

Instead, three retirees have signed up. Their giving accounts for about 1 percent of the $309,000 Hoffman expects the church to receive this year.

A foot in the door

According to the Barna Research Group, a research organization in Ventura, Calif., the use of electronic funds transfers in churches rose from 7 percent of total pari≠shioner giving in 2000 to 12 percent in 2005. The research group, which surveyed 845 senior pastors, said the fastest growth has been in the Northeast, where the rate of automatic deductions quadrupled.

First National Bank of Scotia sees a potential market for the system. It plans on promoting its product in the coming weeks to local nonprofits and already has seven churches lined up. Ken Swain, the First National vice president who oversees the program, said it is open to all faiths.

Organizations pay $7.95 a month for the service, plus another $7.95 per batch processed. In First Reformed Church's case, it has gifts processed in one batch monthly.

Swain said the bank will begin promoting the service next month. The hope is nonprofits that aren't currently customers will become customers as the service's popularity grows.

"If we can get their foot in the door with programs like this, we can build that relationship," Swain said. "It will more than pay for itself."

There's still the old-fashioned way

The Rev. David Noone of St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church in Loudonville loves the automatic withdrawal system. His church has had it in place for the past two years. "It's worked very well for us," he said.

Noone said that in the past, people rarely missed church. Now, the average parishioner misses eight services and that adds up to fewer contributions.

"When I was a kid, we never went anywhere on the weekend. We went on a drive to see the boats go through the locks," he said. "Now, people are going off to gymnastics competitions and God knows where they're going on weekends. Every place."

Noone said about 50 people take advantage of the withdrawal system out of 1,000 regular attendees. He said their giving increased 65 percent between 2005 and 2006. Those signed up have increased their level of giving and have not missed any days.

The additional money made it easier for the church to buy a $5,000 overhead projector.

For those parishioners a little uneasy about passing the plate without putting something in, Noone said his church provides envelopes that allow givers to check that they gave electronically.

First National's Swain can't wait for his church to sign up for the system. Scotia United Methodist is one of the seven churches that plans to sign up.

"I will definitely do it," said Swain, 40. "It's appealing because I don't have to write a check, for one thing."

But First Reform's Hoffman, 58, said he still likes the old-fashioned way of giving.

"I'll not use it," he said. "I get paid every second weekend. The first check I write is to the church and that's a part of my own discipline and I would never give that up. To me, putting the check in the envelope and the envelope in the plate--I've done that ever since I was a teenager and I would miss it if I didn't do it."